Volatility Indexes: VIX and RUT

Most people are familiar with the VIX, the CBOE Volatility Index. It uses options prices to measure the expected volatility of the S&P 500 index. A lesser known index is the RVX, the CBOE Russell 2000 Volatility Index. This uses the exact same formula as the VIX, but applies it to the Russell 2000′s stocks.

As you might imagine, the RVX has historically run higher than the VIX, given that it measures the expected volatility of an inherently more volatile small-cap stock index. According to Russell Investments, the “premium,” or the difference between the two indexes, has historically been around 29%. But in 2014, a year that was at first a wild ride for small-caps, and then a wild ride for everyone, the relationship between the two has been both historically wide, and historically narrow.